Street art – Page 96 – Natural adventures

6505. Peel Street Green (35)

Sub, Peel Street Green, Bristol, October 2024

The wall at Peel Street Green is naturally broken into sections and each one is quite large, offering lots of space for artists to show off their work. I think that this presents SUB with a bit of a problem, because his letters, only three of them, end up being so large, and it becomes difficult to keep the fills interesting.

Sub writes with large letters that he typically fills with single or multiple horizontal fills. He is still developing his style, and is improving from piece to piece, but I think that to lift his work to the next level he might think about how he treats his fills, or perhaps varies his letter shapes. Having said that, I admire anyone with talent and determination getting out there and decorating walls, Sub included.

6504. St Werburghs tunnel (456)

Ayup, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2024

I was lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time when Ayup was about midway through painting this piece. I believe he was visiting from Bournemouth (I think that is what he said) although he is originally from Derbyshire, hence the name AYUP. He usually writes highly designed letters, completely different from this piece, and his Instagram feed is well worth a look.

There is a lot of humour in this cartoon character piece, which is beautifully finished, with strong fills and clean lines. The gold tooth was a point of interest for a young child and his mother when I passed through the tunnel a few days later. The boy was mesmerised by the tooth and kept asking his mum why it was gold/yellow. I would love to see Ayup return to Bristol, and perhaps drop one of his letter pieces on the curved wall i Dean Lane – that would be spectacular.

6503. Lower Approach Road (14)

Sled One, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, October 2024

This piece of graffiti writing by Sled One greets visitors and passengers travelling through Bristol Temple Meads station. I am not too sure how long the piece has been there, but I imagine for quite a while as turnover in this spot is pretty slow.

Such is the talent of Sled One, that I imagine he ran this one off with ease straight off the top of his head, which is generally how he rolls. He has painted some nice SLED1 letters with a fill theme bleeding across all the letters and then added a deep 3D drop shadow (which itself has a further shadow) in contrasting red orange and yellow vertical stripes. A fine piece from a brilliant writer.

6502. M32 roundabout J3 (635)

Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2024

Like sentinels guarding the gate to Rivendell, well not exactly, but sentinels nonetheless painted naturally by Daz Cat. The character on the left is definitely a cat, but I am a little unsure about the creature on the right and am going to assume it is a dog. Cats and dogs are appropriate for this spot, because when it rains heavily, this tunnel floods, and you can see it is partially flooded in this picture.

Daz Cat has been reasonably quiet this year, but these quick ones have brought him front of mind once again. The cat painted in steel blue tones is looking a little vexed. It is great to see how much depth Daz Cat works into his characters compared to the flat cat portraits he was painting when he started.

The dog? portrait on the other side reflects the same colours as the cat and also has a certain amount of depth to it. This is not the first time Daz Cat has painted on either side of the tunnels here. Let me see if I can dig out a previous example…

Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2020

Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2019

6501. Eastgate Retail Park.

Farrah, Eastgate Retail Park, Bristol, October 2024

A few weeks ago I took my dog to the Groom Room at pets at home for his routine haircut and noticed this van parked next to the Halfords. Of course I recognised the artwork instantly as Farrah’s, and as I approached the van I saw Farrah sitting inside taking a break from a wall she was painting nearby. I knocked on her window (which might have appeared a bit creepy) and introduced myself, told her about my blog and that I had written about several of her pieces. I think it took a couple of minutes chatting about her work, that I wasn’t some kind of weirdo.

The van and its stunning decoration need little explanation as it is representative of her unique brush stroke style which she has mastered and which is visible all over the city. The highlight of this occasion was that Farrah tipped me off about a huge wall and paint jam that would be happening the following week a stone’s throw away from where we were talking. The event she was talking about was Goldie’s paint jam celebrating 30 years of Metal Headz, his music production company. More about this in due course.

It was a delight to meet Farrah at last, and it is always great to capture painted vehicles.

6500. Dean Lane skate park (744)

Astrea (HNH), Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

Astrea, formerly known as HNH, first came on to my radar at the Muriel Alleyway mini street art festival earlier this year where she decorated a garage shutter with her striking and unusual style. Astrea’s designs are intricate and hint at letters, although it is the overall effect that is king. In this piece, you can make out the letters HNH.

I am very much enjoying seeing her work popping up around the place, but sadly have missed the boat on two pieces, one under the M32 and the other in Peel Street Green, where I arrived a day too late, which was gutting. This modest black and white piece is painted on one of the skate ramps and makes a statement albeit quietly.

6499. M32 Cycle path (276)

Disfrutalafrutaaa, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2024

This wonderful piece by Disfrutalafrutaaa, which is a first from the artist on Natural Adventures, was painted alongside Claro_que_sssnoh, and I am making the assumption that the artist is likely to be Spanish. Certainly the rather long and complicated moniker would point in that direction.

The piece itself is a beautifully presented blue script squiggle of letters which I can’t make out set on a red and orange spotty background that has a slightly psychedelic feel to it. The piece is really pleasing on the eye, but because I am unfamiliar with the artist, I can’t really say whether it is typical or not. It is always great to welcome new talent to Bristol.

6498. Dean Lane skate park (773)

What a wonderful surprise to find this modest piece behind the swimming pool railings in Dean Lane skate park. Blink and you might miss it. Bean has been absent from Bristol for a long period, away at university studying hard I expect.

This character piece is really interesting, because it looks like modern take on an old school archetype. Bean has synthesised this very well and he has an ease and competence about his work. I expect this was a quick one, and I didn’t see any others around the time this was painted. I am very much hoping to see more from him after he graduates.

6497. St Werburghs tunnel (455)

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2024

My mood is low today with the news that it is looking likely Donald Trump has won the election in America. One wonders just how this can happen. From this side of the pond, it does not reflect well on the slim majority of Americans who favour a narcissistic bigot and his right wing policies (actually does he have any, or simply make it up as he goes along?). Having said that, we have made the same mistakes in the UK over the last 14 years, and by God are we paying for it now. I am reminded of this rather unpleasant piece of street art from several years ago in which a pair of narcissists kiss – little did we know (although we suspected it) how destructive this pair of liars would be.

Felix Braun, Donald and Boris, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 23 May 2016

I think that it is fair to say that Hypo appears to be smashing it every week at the moment, and I have to say I am enjoying the ride. All the time he is developing his style and adding new ideas, pushing the envelope constantly.

This is a clean piece, not as energetic as some of Hypo’s recent works, but it is nicely designed with simple colours and a solid fill. The deep 3D drop shadow drifts into a central vanishing point which works well. Hypo seems to be enjoying his ‘icicles’ at the moment, which adds a little extra interest to his border. Nice work.